


if you fall on me

by hannamoon



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, That's it, just self-indulgent fluff, thank you for your time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27583234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannamoon/pseuds/hannamoon
Summary: Sometimes, Rapunzel just needs her thief to steal her away for a night.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 14
Kudos: 46





	if you fall on me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kingrey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kingrey/gifts).



> i wrote this in a fever dream bc inès said she needed more new dream dancing, and apparently when i'm dizzy and nauseous my only goal is to please her.
> 
> title from fall apart too by katelyn tarver.

There was little Rapunzel loved more than these secret excursions of theirs—the thief stealing her away under the moonlight being the part she loved most. The grass was slippery beneath her feet as they wove through the trees, evidence of the dew gathering in the hours before the sun broke over the horizon. 

She was the one who snuck into Eugene’s room tonight, beckoning him to follow her through the silent halls, though he was the first to suggest escaping the guards and responsibility to explore the forest beyond the city in an attempt to forget about palace life. Not that she disliked being princess. Sometimes she just needed to breathe the open air and feel the fresh ground beneath her toes, instead of the fussing and rules of the castle.

“Eugene!” she called, falling to her knees in a particularly lush patch of flowers. He was already within reach, of course, but ambled closer to rest a chin and arm upon her back. “Aren’t they the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen?”

Busy trailing her fingers along the delicate petals, already memorising the distinct shades of colours to paint later, she missed the way her boyfriend kept his gaze on the side of her face. 

“Gorgeous,” he seemingly agreed.

Once she was satisfied with her commitment of the flowers to memory, she leaned back into his embrace, and stared up at the light of the moon casting through the leaves hanging above. She raised a hand in the air, letting the shadows catch and dance on her skin. Behind her, Eugene kissed the shell of her ear. 

“Sunshine,” he said. “Not that I don’t love our adventures, because I do, but is there a reason we’re out here and not sleeping?”

She turned slightly, to fit better against his chest. Truthfully, she’d woken up sweaty and shaken from a dream she could no longer recall, but she couldn’t find the courage to tell him so, not when he’d already done so much for her. 

“Do you want to go back?” she said instead. 

He was silent for a moment, as if he could understand all she wasn’t saying.

“I think there’s a creek not too far up ahead this way. It would be a shame to walk all this way and not see it, don’t you think?”

She peered up at him, the concern melting from his eyes to return her smile as she leaned in to press a kiss under his jaw and stay for just a moment longer in his arms. It was safe there in a way she’d never known before him.

They walked more slowly now, hand in hand, as the symphony of the night sprung to life around them. Crickets and toads singing underfoot. The branches over their heads creaking through the wind. A stray bird crooned in the distance, and Rapunzel wondered what fears kept it awake in the night, too.

Eugene’s hand squeezed hers, drawing her back to the moment. He was warm, opposed to the cool of the night, and she was beginning to regret running out in nothing but her thin nightgown. Though it was easier to feel the breeze shift around them, as she felt the soft ground and stones against her bare feet. She enjoyed feeling the forest in this way, as if she were a part of it, growing along with the rest of the trees and verdant plants.

And when they found the creek, she immediately sprung into the shallow water, laughing at the current pushing softly at her heels. 

“Come on, Eugene,” she beckoned, pulling at his hand where he still stood stubbornly at the water’s edge. 

He pulled away, grimacing in a way she knew was exaggerated. “Careful, these are new boots!”

“Take them off then!”

She ventured further into the creek, the water rising up to her calves. In the faint light, she saw glimpses of fish darting around her, and smiled as she wondered where they might have been and what awaited them next. It was a thought she had of everyone she passed, and if she had the time, she’d sketch the stories she imagined for them. 

“Ah! Cold!” Eugene yelped. 

He strode closer to her, his hurried steps splashing through the water and blurring the small ecosystem beneath them from sight. His boots lay stranded in the grass.

“I don’t know how you do this,” he continued, holding onto her waist as if she were a lifeline. “Don’t your feet freeze? Ah! Sharp rock!” He stumbled. “Or hurt?”

“I want to feel everything,” she answered. “It’s silly, I know. But feeling the earth beneath me, it’s—as if I feel real, too.”

Eugene finally fell still behind her, his hands grasping hers as he held her. She liked the feel of him, too, and the way he was constantly reaching for her, to bring her closer. Twisting in his arms, she stood with her head against his collarbone, and it somehow felt more grounding than the stones of the creek. 

“It’s not silly,” he murmured. “And you feel plenty real to me.”

He kissed the crown of her head, as if to prove his point.

The fear of her nightmare struck her briefly again in glimpses of being trapped, alone, with her frantic pleas echoing coldly against sturdy walls. She hoped he couldn’t see it in her eyes, though the thin smile he gave her said otherwise. 

Then, suddenly, he was spinning her, lifting her arms and giving a soft tug as she tried to right herself against the sudden movement. She came to a stop back before him, and saw the grin morphing his face, her own laugh springing forth before she could recognise it. 

He slid his other hand to the small of her back, pressing her forward at the same moment she realised he was leading her in the dance they’d been taught last week. Their instructor had been a stern woman who didn’t care at all for the ways in which Eugene kept trying to make Rapunzel smile, which worked just as well then as it did now. 

Their steps were far from perfect, mostly because he kept stepping in the wrong ways, but Rapunzel was more than happy to follow in whichever directions he led. 

That was at least until they hit an exceptionally slippery patch of the creek, and his improper footing had Eugene crashing to the ground with her falling gracelessly over him. 

She laughed, her sides near splitting, as she held tightly to his shoulders to keep herself steady. Of all of the sounds of the night, his laughter mixing with hers was the most beautiful one she’d heard. 

“What was that for?” she asked, once their music had faded. “I thought you didn’t dance.”

“I suppose I just needed the right partner.”

Her cheeks grew warm, even though she’d thought herself well accustomed to his constant flirting over the past few months. 

He grinned, sitting up from the water and holding her firmly where she now resided in his lap, kissing her cheeks even though she was certain he couldn’t have seen her blush in the dim light. 

“You could do with some more practice,” she said, trying to chide him before he noticed just how flustered she was becoming. 

He leaned even closer, the breath of his words skating across her lips. “All you have to do is ask, sunshine.”

She closed her eyes the second before he kissed her, his hands dripping water as they trailed up her sides. As he gently parted her lips, she curled her toes into the softly flowing creek and let her thoughts fall to nothing beyond the tranquility of the night and the man who continuously managed to save her.


End file.
